Campus tragedy

Texas A&M students killed while building bonfire

Posted: Friday, November 19, 1999

By Michael GraczykAssociated Press

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- A towering, 40-foot pyramid of logs erected for Texas A&M's traditional football bonfire trembled and then came roaring down early Thursday, crushing at least nine students to death and injuring 28 others.

At least four of the injured were in critical condition and two people could be seen trapped in the rubble late Thursday afternoon. Rescuers couldn't tell if they were dead or alive.

''We fear (the death toll) will escalate,'' said fire department spokesman Bart Humphreys.

A wave of grief settled over the campus of 43,000, some 90 miles northwest of Houston. School officials said they believed that all students were accounted for.

Rescuers earlier in the day used sensitive sound-detection equipment to listen for moaning or tapping from the enormous pile of collapsed logs, and heard scratching noises that led them to believe there were victims trapped.

Top levels of the structure, which is tiered like a wedding cake, fell off to one side. Workers removing the base level Thursday afternoon were certain there were no bodies in that section, Humphreys said.

The painstaking work was expected to continue into the night.

''We take it one log at a time,'' said Kem Bennett, director of a state rescue unit. ''They're wired three together in stacks, so we have to cut the wire and move them one at a time. So it's a lengthy process.''

Shocked students gathered at the scene, holding hands and praying while the rescue went on. Workers tapped on logs and ordered spectators to be still so they could hear if anyone was still alive.

Texas A&M sophomore Diana Estrada said she was about 200 yards away from the stack when it fell.

''It just toppled over, and the wires snapped and the lights started sparking and going on and off,'' she said. ''We ran over there as fast as we could, and we could see legs sticking out and hear people screaming.''

Officials had no explanation for the collapse and said engineers would examine the site.

Sixty to 70 students were on top of the logs trying to build the stack when it suddenly gave way, university officials said.

''I was dazed. I was kind of thrown against the wall,'' said sophomore Caleb Hill. ''For a while, I could see a few people trying to jump off the stack, get out from on top of it, out from underneath it.''

Sophomore Michael Guerra, who was helping build the bonfire, had left for a few minutes and returned moments after the collapse.

''People were running around calling people's names and crying,'' Guerra said. ''Other people were just like zombies. They couldn't believe what had happened.''

Faculty adviser Rusty Thompson said students told him there was no hint of a problem until there was ''noise and chaos.''

''There was just a sudden movement,'' he said. ''Five to seven seconds and it was on the ground.''

''I've never seen anything like this,'' said student Patrick Freshwater, who was helping clear away the logs. ''It's something you don't ever want to feel. I went to my class and there was nobody there. The teacher wasn't even there, because no one can go to class when this is going on.''

The bonfire, meant to get students fired up for the football game against archrival Texas, is a beloved tradition at Texas A&M and attracts tens of thousands of spectators.

Since the tradition began in 1909, when the school was still an all-male military academy, the bonfire has been canceled only one other time: in 1963, after President Kennedy's assassination.

This year's bonfire was to have been lit on Thanksgiving, the night before the big game.

Ray Bowen, the university president, said this year's bonfire would be canceled and added he was not sure if the bonfire would be permanently abolished.

''It's a very important tradition to us,'' he said, ''but those decisions must be made at a calmer time.''

Although the project is run by students, engineers and non-student adults are always at the site, said Thompson, the faculty adviser. The students cut the logs to lengths of about 10 feet and build the pile themselves over several weeks. Cranes and tractors lift the logs, which are then tied together with baling wire.

The structure, which this year would have included about 7,000 logs and reached 55 feet, is designed to twist inward and collapse on itself as it burns.

The stack also collapsed in 1994, but no one was injured. A second was built and ignited that year.

Both students and alumni have strong opinions about the bonfire.

A group calling itself Aggies Against Bonfire has called in the past for the abolition of the annual event, saying it wastes resources, pollutes the air and contributes to dozens of injuries and alcohol-related arrests each year.

Dallas Cowboys special teams coach Joe Avezzano, who was an assistant coach at A&M during the 1980s, said the ritual should go on. ''It is part of the tradition and history,'' he said. ''Thousands and thousands of people have been involved over the years, and that may be underestimating it.''

''My feeling is they won't get any closure if they just take it down. We could get it built again in five days, because you know, they died to build it,'' she said. ''They wouldn't want to just put it away. They'd want to burn it.''

Thursday's accident was the third disaster related to Texas A&M this fall.

On Sept. 18, five people were killed in the crash of a plane used by an A&M-connected skydiving club.

On Oct. 10, six students walking to a fraternity party not far from campus were killed by a pickup truck whose driver had fallen asleep, police said. One of the victims was from Texas A&M.